Stormy Nights

I learned something today...Gracelyn is old enough to learn from discipline and the time has come to use it.

Situation #1
The little cutie bites! She has bitten me before while nursing her and I've flicked her on the cheek and told her no without much reaction from her. Well, today she bit again and it was the hardest yet. Calmly (ha! as calm as one can be after having my ninny clenched between her toothless jaws and her fist full of my flesh squeezing and yanking my ninny from between the death grip---sorry if this is too graphic for some readers!) but firmly, I looked her in the eye with my pointer finger in her face, said "No!" and proceeded to flick her on the cheek...harder than before. Some of you might be thinking this is horrible parenting and others may be wondering why did I wait so long! Well, she got the point and the little baby melted. She cried the saddest cry I've heard yet and I don't think it was because her cheek hurt. Unfortunately, within a couple minutes, the little peanut did it again and she got the same response from me. Again, very sad cry. It took everything I had not too cuddle her close and tell her how sorry I was to discipline her and tell her I would never do it again. But then, love for her caught the best of me. I told her I wasn't mad but that she couldn't treat me this way. She actually attempted to chomp down once more and this time all it took was a firm NO and the tears flowed. She made the connection and for the rest of the time that she ate, she was aware of her little jaws. And instead of pinching, she rested her hand on my flesh. First battle over, at least for now :)

Situation #2
Our vacation ruined the poor baby's sleeping pattern. Before we left for Texas, she went to sleep around 8:30, slept in her crib all night and usually woke up once in the middle of the night to eat, only to go right back to sleep. During our vacation, she slept in the same room with Trent and I, both in the hotel and at our friend's home. I was intent on catching her before she started to cry to keep her from waking up the sleeping heads surrounding our room. To add to it, I nursed her in bed, fell asleep a couple times and eventually put her back in her portable bed. Evidently, she loved being close to me and loved having the milk buffet open at all hours of the night. We returned home and of course, she expected the same treatment! It took me a couple nights before I realized that bringing her to bed after she woke up when I put her down was not the best idea. Last night in particular, she woke up four or five times, several minutes after I laid her down. By 4am, I closed the door to her room and got serious about getting her to sleep. She of course wanted to nurse even though it had only been an hour since the last session. After a very long, frustrating hour, we was asleep in her bed. Throughout that hour though, there was a thunderstorm outside. I really feel like it was a gift from the Lord. I felt like He was reminding me that I wasn't alone in that room with her and to remain patient, steadfast and gentle. Gracelyn slept until 7:30 so it was an improvement. But it could be another long night. Trent and I are ready for tonight...as sleepless as it may be, we are ready to get her back on track. Our strategy....lots of prayer...and...well, we've thrown out a few ideas and we'll see what works best. Just hoping now that it doesn't take too many nights to get her back into the swing of things!